The thing about "compulsion" is it's more nuanced than most would think..

in democratic •  3 years ago 

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In my years of subjecting myself to the Democratic Socialism Now! and Being Liberal pages as an exercise in understanding the leftist worldview straight from the source before the usefulness more than outran its course, I got healthy doses of the asinine statements that under capitalism you either work or starve.

The first layer of that is obviously, well, in socialism you both work and starve; and, also, what could be more selfish than complaining about having to earn your keep in society? Even though Marx basically lived off of Engles' wealth, Marx wasn't even that selfish.

This goes deeper though and this is something that liberals need to understand when it comes to how we talk.

If you talk to these people who believe in fake concepts like "wage slavery" long enough, you get to understand that these people believe that existence itself is compels people. The fact that you have to work in order to feed yourself means that the decision to work isn't voluntary which means that any complaints of compulsion are invalid.

The thing is, if you take the literal dictionary definition of "compulsion" as it is with no extra thought, they're kinda-sorta technically right. Compulsion doesn't even require a second conscious actor under the dictionary definition. I could suddenly be compelled to take a shit right now even though I don't want to; but, I can't voluntarily suppress my need to take a shit - at least not forever.

The thing is, when people who believe in freedom tell these people that actual slavery is wrong because slaves are forced into labor against their will, the leftists view this as a moot point because now you have to work for an employer even if you'd rather stay home and smoke weed.

I've been baffled by this and I've seen a lot of fellow real liberals baffled by this because, frankly, we find it hard to believe that somebody could be so stupid to see no ethical difference between being compelled to take a shit by one's own body and being forced at gun point to take a shit. But, yes, these people are that dumb. They see no ethical difference between me being compelled to eat breakfast in the morning and John Doe in the movie Seven forcing a person to eat at gun point. To them, it's all compelled and all involuntary; so, it's all the same thing.

I guess people of some conscience need to adjust our language slightly if we have any goal of...well...if you've gone full "It's evil that I need to contribute to society and everybody should work to keep me alive; but, also, FUCK THOSE GREEDY CAPITALISTS." you're probably beyond saving; but, we can change our language to prevent these people from converting more people.

Basically, the problem isn't simply compulsion. The problem lies in the aggression of conscious, reasonable actors against other conscious, reasonable actors. That's not as simple as just saying "compulsion"; but, it's quicker than talking in circles with a halfwit.

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